Opportunity knocks

With ever-widening scope, pharmacists now have lots of opportunities to try different career directions and enjoy a purposeful professional life.

For Australia’s 38,000 pharmacists, opportunities for career direction and advancement have never been better.

Scope of practice is expanding exponentially with pilot and permanently enabled practice changes happening in every state and territory.

For newly registered pharmacists starting out from their intern year in a hospital or community pharmacy, it can be daunting when faced with so much choice – and without the guiding hand of a preceptor or mentor.

Whether the choice is to stay in community or hospital pharmacy, or branch out with the aim of working in general practice, the disability sector, in aged care or an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, pharmacist member organisations, government, digital health, management consulting, or trialling working solely as a credentialled pharmacist, the options are many and varied.

Higher level tertiary study can also bring opportunites as can joining one of PSA’s six Communities of Specialty Interest (CSIs), particularly the Early Career Pharmacists CSI.

Launching officially next month is PSA’s Flying Start program, designed for new generally registered pharmacists for support through their first 100 days in practice. Most important for all, but especially new pharmacists, is forming good habits in relation to amassing the 40 points needed for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for annual registration.

PSA has a CPD Planning Tool, a living document that grows throughout the year. Audits by the Pharmacy Board of Australia are not uncommon, so best to keep the plan up to date with conferences such as PSA25, annual therapeutic updates held in all states, webinars and educational articles on various online forums including AP and the PSA website where the CPD catalogue can be accessed via preferred topic and category. 

No pharmacist needs to feel locked into a rigid path of practice, when projects can be undertaken in pharmacies and mentors sought for areas of interest.

AP asked five pharmacists in various career stages, locations and settings to reflect on what opportunities they took to get where they are now.

Paul Sinclair | FIP President (NSW)

Opportunities (good or bad) can shape outcomes and have a material influence on our lives. Offered a place to study pharmacy at Sydney University, I was given the opportunity by my parents to repeat Year 12, as my heart was set on studying medicine. In my return Higher School Certificate year, I missed out on medicine and was again accepted into pharmacy – surely a sign and what a great outcome for me. Now, I could not imagine being anything else but a pharmacist.

My father, Brian Sinclair, also a pharmacist, encouraged me to make the decision to open my own pharmacy at the very first opportunity. I had not long been registered when the opportunity to open a new pharmacy in Ingleburn in southwest Sydney presented.

Dad always said, ‘back yourself’ and with his guidance as my mentor, I felt I had nothing to lose. I would own that pharmacy for more than 30 years and make lifelong friends with patients, their families and the staff I employed. (I also owned pharmacies in Bowral and Terrigal for a period.) As part of that Ingleburn community though, I always felt the need to be involved and when discussions about local issues became commonplace in the pharmacy, I felt I should be part of the solution rather than simply commentating on the problem.

The opportunity to nominate for local government arose and I happily accepted the challenge. This led to a 10-year term on Campbelltown City Council including one term as Mayor. What a privilege it was to be able to contribute in that manner.

Other opportunities with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the Australian Pharmacy Council and the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) presented as my career progressed. All different challenges, but each added enormous satisfaction to my professional career and gave me the stimulation needed to maintain enthusiasm for the profession I love. I am blessed to have made the career choices I have, and if I started again I can honestly say I wouldn’t want to change a thing.

Today, as a senior participant in our profession, I hope any further contribution I can make will ensure our pharmacy profession is strong, professionally satisfying and full of opportunity for our younger and future pharmacists.

Rebecca Edgerton MPS | Pharmacist Prescriber (QLD)

Embracing change has been a recurring theme in my pharmacy journey. As one of the first class of pharmacists to graduate from James Cook University (JCU), to completing the original AACP medication management review course years ago and participating in the original Queensland vaccination pilot in 2013, I’m now excited to be part of the Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot as a pharmacist prescriber – so far my most rewarding opportunity.

It has given pharmacists the ability to diagnose and treat patients within the pharmacy, which has been positively received by patients. My job satisfaction has grown. Patients also have a better understanding of prescribing pharmacists’ level of knowledge and the positive impact they can have on health care.

All pharmacists should embrace upskilling opportunities. Even if the pilot, scheduled to conclude in 2025, is not successful I have improved my knowledge and skills and I’m grateful for the opportunity. The learning components of the training course are comprehensive and thorough – refining and expanding our skills in patient history-taking, patient examinations and treatment. The course focuses on topics such as ear infections, skin conditions, travel health, wound care, cardiovascular management and respiratory conditions.

Pilot training began in March 2023 and I completed the course in early 2024. Balancing my role as Pharmacist Manager at LiveLife Pharmacy Bowen Healthcare full-time and raising a family already kept me busy, but adding study took it to another level! A vital skill I have learned is time management. After graduating 22 years ago from JCU, I returned to face Observed Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) again! The pilot includes components on clinical skills and safe prescribing that are provided by several academic institutions. Assessment includes assignments, exams and OSCEs.

The future of pharmacy is shifting toward a more patient-centred model with a focus on preventive health and early intervention in conditions like respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. With longer wait times to see doctors in regional and remote areas and higher rates of preventable hospitalisations, this pilot will  relieve some of the pressure on health services. Hopefully, it will also be expanded beyond its current 22 conditions.

Phuong Nguyen MPS | Management Consultant, Pharmacist, Acting PSA State Manager (WA)

My pharmacy journey has been a rich and rewarding experience shaped by hard work, being at the right time and place, and connecting with the right people.

I am deeply grateful for the experiences, learnings and mentorship I have received along the way.

A series of events led to where I am today. The first was an opportunity to work full-time in an aged care pharmacy. This allowed me time and flexibility to pursue further study in areas that interested me such as management and finance. This enabled me to complete my Masters of Business Administration (MBA). I met high-achieving people from various sectors during those years, which broadened my perspective on pharmacy and opened my mind to new possibilities.

Taking the opportunity to study at Harvard University as part of my MBA was transformative, instilling in me the confidence to try new things and a ‘can do’ attitude. I am privileged to have met a lot of incredible, intelligent people from pharmacy who have inspired me to be ready with the right skills and mindset, so that when the right circumstances arise I can step through the doorway.

Any opportunity must be considered along with factors such as purpose, family, long-term goals, financial position, etc.

Knowing what your priorities are and in what order is important in making any big decision. And don’t underestimate your gut-feeling! I was lucky enough to be able to give management consulting a try. In a short period of time, I learned many skills that are now part of my toolkit for the next adventure. These include critical thinking, empathy, an inquisitive mind and, most importantly, the confidence to talk to anyone at any level.

That is not to say I haven’t turned down opportunities, such as pharmacy partnerships, because I probably wasn’t ready and confident at the time.

With any ‘missed’ opportunity, I view it as a lesson learned, to be more self-aware and build on my capabilities to be ready for the next opportunity.

Recently, I was very fortunate to be offered the role of Acting West Australian State Manager for PSA. If this opportunity had been offered 5 years ago, I would not have taken it. After my MBA and several years of management consulting, in which I was learning and engaging with different sectors, I now feel this particular role with PSA brings together all the lessons I have learned to add value for our members and the pharmacy profession.

Embrace change and give everything a go, because if it doesn’t work out you can always move on and learn from it.

For now, I am trying to live my best life for myself, my family and my profession. I am keeping an open and learning mindset as well as a focus on making each day better than the last.

Everything happens for a reason, and who knows? One day, I might even try stand-up comedy and see where that goes!

Charlotte Sulzberger MPS | Imprest Hospital Pharmacist (TAS)

I moved to Hobart from Launceston to study pharmacy in 2016 due to pharmacy not being offered there at the time. The opportunity to study pharmacy was incredible but also hard as I had to move away from home to take it.

In my second year of pharmacy study, I started working as a pharmacy technician for HPS Pharmacies at Calvary Lenah Valley Hospital. This led to an opportunity after graduation to complete my internship with HPS across four different private hospitals in Tasmania. Since registering, I have worked in different areas including as a clinical pharmacist at St Helen’s
Private Hospital in Hobart (now closed), and a dispensary and clinical pharmacist at Hobart Private Hospital.

My first standout opportunity that made a significant difference in my career was accepting a pharmacist position for Calvary Lenah Valley Hospital in 2021. Within this position, I covered the dispensary but one of my responsibilities was to manage stock control and supply of the different medications for each of the wards, or “imprest”. We order the required medicines so they are readily available for the nursing staff, and don’t need to be dispensed each time by the pharmacy.

A big part of my role is to review when medicines are out of stock and decide whether different brands or sometimes different medicines all together are clinically appropriate to use while a medicine is unavailable. When our manager offered me this opportunity, I was excited but also a bit daunted by the idea of managing procurement for the hospital. I was responsible for ensuring the hospital always had medications on the wards. While it was scary initially, my manager guided me through each step.

This opportunity definitely came from left field and was not a role I expected when I started my career.

While scared of the unknown, I wanted to give it a go and see where it led me, and I fell in love with it! I have since learned about the logistics of medication supply and procurement and it has enhanced my problem-solving skills – making me resourceful and to be able to think outside the box for solutions.

Pharmacy has a range of opportunities available in many different areas. I hope to continue in the procurement field but would never rule out other opportunities that come my way!

Prasin Rodrigues MPS | Hospital pharmacist (NSW)

A rural internship in a community pharmacy helped me become a more versatile pharmacist.

My time there helped develop my problem-solving skills as often we had limited resources and needed to find alternate options for our patients. This has been a transferrable skill I’ve been able to take to new workplaces and I don’t think I would be where I am today without that solid foundation.

Saying yes to opportunities and networking has allowed me to meet some inspirational pharmacists, which has ignited my passion for the profession. One such opportunity was taking a 6-month contract in a rural hospital, when I had no previous hospital pharmacy experience.

This allowed me to build on my clinical skills and gave me opportunities to work in higher grade roles managing 13 rural/regional hospitals that required a lot of logistical work to provide medicines to these areas. This role called for me to be resourceful and innovative at times, to provide services such as getting the NSW State Emergency Service and local police involved during floods to deliver medicines to affected hospitals.

Working rurally at the start of my career also meant I couldn’t always afford to attend CPD events face to face as there were added travel costs for this. This was pre-COVID, so webinars weren’t as readily available as they are now. As I now live in Sydney I go to as many CPD and networking opportunities as I am able, the most recent was about voluntary assisted dying and how the program is going after being legislated.

I’d like to get into holistic patient care, especially in transitions of care where there is a known high risk of errors. While we try to reduce transitions of care errors in my hospital, we often aren’t able to follow up these patients once they leave the ward – unless they are readmitted.

A career in pharmacy is less linear now than previously. Many pharmacists wear multiple hats and work in non-traditional areas. With that in mind, I didn’t limit myself to one career pathway. I’ve done HMR credentialing, immunisation training, and have worked part-time as a pharmacy lecturer and tutor. I got my aged care credential by taking an opportunity advertised to pharmacists to upskill just after the final report into the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Now, I’m interested in research, so am ready for an opportunity to appear!